Freight car



May 12, 1925. 1,537,162

c. FOWLER FREIGHT CAR Filed July 15, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 $51 1%Qbtommgo $26M, Myflw May 12', 1925; 1,537,162

c. FOWLER FREIGHT CAR Filed July 15, 1922 2 saws-sheet 2 the (other.Vheels 4 are mounte Patented May 12, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT: OFFICE;

CHARLES rownnfa, or BEVERLY FARMS, MASSACHUSETTS:

F EIGHT CAR.

Application filed Ju1y 15, 1922. serial No. 5%,301

purpose of loading and unloading vehicles ofivarious kinds fromand ontosuitable platforms adjacent the cars. a a v The" invention in oneof itsembodiments is illustrated in. the aecomp anyin-g drawings whichform'part of this specification, and in said drawings, 7 j g H Fig. 1represents affioor ot a car such as a freight car, which is providedwithtracks to support a turn-table; T p

' Fig. 2 represents air-elevation partly in section ofaportion of a carwith a. turntable 'niounted thereon; 7 I v r Fig. ;3 is a plan view oftheflfioor of the turn-table Fig. lis a view-of a locking bar used totighten locking bands around thewheels of vehicles stationed withinthecar; 1 Fig; 5- is a view of an end. portion ofgthe car showing ameans for tightening and rotating the locking bar; f

Fig. ,6 is a view ofa plate a'daptedto be fastened to a side of the car,and I r Fig. 7 isa-pers'pective view of a locking band. V f

In said drawings there is shown a floor 1 of a freight carsuch as a;flat caryand above this floor is mounteda turn-table 2 for rotationupona pivot pin 3. The said floor 1 may be formed by building it directlyupon the long steel girders running the length of the car from onerunninggear to v on the under side of said turn table for travel inouter. tracks 5 and inner track'- 6, bothon the floor 1 of the car, andtheseitracks may be countersunk to the levelr of-the: floor or raisedabove itas desired. The floorhas recesses f7 ateach corner thereof asshown in Fig. 1, and in these recesses are provided plates 8 lying flushwith the top of the floor 1' and'positioned to; turn about' pivots 9.

These plates 8' may be moved outwardly be yond the floor of the car (asshown in dotted linesat the left offFig. 1 and onto a suitable platformstanding level with the said floor and adjacent thereto so that the carfloor may be bridged over to the plat? fornn The said plates 8 areprovided with bolt holes 10 and also bolt holes 11' the lat ter beingfor the purpose of securing the plateswithin the recesses by bolts,extending into' the floor of the car, and the former for the purpose ofreceiving bolts passing through corresponding holes 12 in the floor ofthe car when the plates 8 are nioved outwardly." Pins 18 are provided toextend o'verthe plates Stomor'e securely hold them in operativevposition.

The turn-table hasa floor-l4 parallel to and positioned above thefloor1,. and it is provided with grooves such as15 and 16 for the purpose ofreceiving rods or looking bars 17 and 18, these grooves being deepenough to allow the lowering of said rods below the level of the floorof the turntable so as to be out of the way. Correspondingwith thesegrooves areslots 19 and 20 whiclrmay be provided in the sides of the caras shown inFig. 2, and the locking bars 17 and 18 are'adapted to traveliii the slots.

The locking bars are connected by a' locking band 21 so that whentheloclri-ngbaijfi is suitably rotated it w illf cause the locking bandto tigliten aifoun'd a vehicle wheel 22 'tolh 'old; it firmlyinfpl'aceagainst' the, floor of car. A number of such slots andlockmay'be provide'dinthe car to accommodate any desired number ofvehicles.

The above described L-shaped slots may be covered on the outside of thecar plates 23 of corresponding shape, the portions 24 thereof beingattached directly against the side of the car, and the surface 25 whichconstitutes a recess is for the purpose of receiving the he'adof thelo'cking'bar; A slot 26'- is for the purpose of receiving the end peuse) of the bar itself. These L sh'aped plates may also be mounted in asimilar way on thel insi'de of the car,-v in which case no slots wouldbe cut tlirougl'i the wallsof the car.

The locking bars 'l fand l8 b e rods of a'nysuitable characterprovidedqwith round heads which fit Within the recesses 25, and

they] are more fully shown in Fig. l, As thereshown they are square incross section except at the ends 27 p which are round; Upon the mainportion'iof the rod are mounted ,collarsi28 which'may be provided withadditional metallicbands 29 circular in form for the purpose of reducingfriction when in contact with the wheels of the vehicles. The collars 28are movable along the locking bar 17 so as to correspond with the treadof the vehicle.

The locking bands 21 may be made of any suitable material such as canvasor other fabric, rubber, leather, wood, iron, chain, rope, or acombination of any of these.

The means for rotating the locking bars are illustrated in a detailedview shown in Fig. 5. The bar 17 has provided thereon at the outside ofthe turn-table a ratchet wheel 30 cooperating with a pawl 31 fixed upona vertical sliding plate 32 mounted in guideways or slides 33 and 34formed by bent-over portions of an exterior plate fastened to theoutside of the turn-table. The latter plate has cut therein a verticalslot 36 corresponding to the vertical slot 19 in the side of the car. Acrank 37 is fixed to the end of the bar 17 for rotating it, and it willbe seen that as the latter is retated it will move upwardly with plate32 due to the resistance encountered by the bands 21 on the vehiclewheels. The ratchet and pawl arrangement prevents any undesired backwardmotion. The bars such as 18 are not provided with this turning means, asit would be unnecessary. The same arrangement would be provided for eachset of locking bars and bands. Not only may the L-shaped platesbe'mounted on the inside of. the car, but the ratchet wheel 30 with pawl31, vertical sliding plate 32, and guideways 33 and 34: may also bemounted on the inside of the car.

Both ends 38 of the car are hinged to the floor thereof so that they maybe let down for the purpose of rolling the vehicles to or from anadjoining car or platform suitably stationed to. receive the vehicle.Catches 39 serve to hold these ends 38 in place.

The turn-table may be provided with suitable means for locking it inalinement with the lower floor 1 and such means may be a verticallocking bolt passing through holes in the floor 1 and floor 14.

The above described embodiment of a freight car illustrates anarrangement .whereby various vehicles such as automobiles may be quicklyloaded and unloaded from freight cars onto an adjacent receivingplatform, and all of the freight cars may be unloaded simultaneously byreason of the fact that each car constitutes a turn-table which :an beturned into the position desired and vehicles unloaded therefrom withoutwaiting for the unloading of another freight car. The turn-table may beturned at right angles to the track, or it may be turned at any otherangle in case there is not enough room for unloading. Thus where thespace between railroad tracks is small, it would be only necessary toturn the turn-table through a smaller angle than a right angle so thatthe vehicles could be delivered into a platform positioned between thetracks. In this case the pivot pins may be located near the end oftheturn-table instead of near the center as shown in the above embodiment.The floor 1 1 of the turn-table 2 may be as long as the floor 1, or itmay be longer or shorter as desired, and in either event it will beunderstood that the body of the freight car is built upon the floor ltof the turn-table so that the entire car may be revolved above the floor1 which is mounted on the running gear and girders.

The floor 1 may be omitted and the turntable may be mounted on thegirders and supported by tracks or equivalent devices mounted thereon.

Other bridging means may be employed to hold the car in alinement withthe receiving platform, for example a long plate semicircular in formmay be hinged to the I-beams or the floor 1 and when not in use may besuitably fastened up against the side of the main car for the purpose ofgetting it out of the way and of securely locking the main car inalinement with the'running gear. Another bridging means would consist incontinuations, by means of hinges, of the outer tracks 5, and suchextensions, when not in use may be fastened upright against the side ofthe car and in that position form an additional locking means forholding the turn-table in alinement with the running gear.

The vehicles which may be shipped in such cars as above described mayvary in size, for example they may be 10, 15, 01' 20 feet long, andthemeans for holding them to the cars would of course vary with thechanges in size. Any kind of vehicle or container mounted on wheels maybe shipped in the above described manner.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of this invent-ion maybe made without departing from the spirit thereof, it is to beunderstood that I do not intend to limit myself to the specificembodiment thereof except as indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a freight car having a floor, a turntable mounted for rotationabove the floor, and bridging means to hold the car floor in a planewith an adjacent receiving platform.

2. A freight car comprising a main rotatable body and running gear, apivot pin mounted on the running gear, means to support the body whilerotating and at rest comprising tracks mounted above the girders betweenthe running gear, and wheels on the car body in engagement with saidtracks and bridging means to hold the car level with an adjacentreceiving platform.

3. A freight car having a rotatable body and running gear, and means tosupport the body While rotating-and at rest, said car body having'endswhich may be let down to facilitate the speedy removal of vehicleswithin the car onto an-adjacent platform.

4. A freight car having a rotatable body and running gear, and means tosupport the body while rotating and at rest, said car having means tosecurely hold vehicles against movement within the car, and the platessecured below the body for engagement with an adjacent receivingplatform.

5. A freight car having a rotatable body and running gear, means tosupport it while 'of July, 1922 rotating and at rest, and means to holdthe car level with an adjacent receiving platform. I l r 6. A freightcar having a rotatable body and running gear, means to support'it whilerotating and at rest, means to hold the car level with an adjacentreceiving platform,. and means to hold the car in alinement with therunning gear, a In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have hereuntoset my hand this first day CHARLES FOWLER.

